Pastor Isaac Rwomushana will one day be interviewed by this website for being honest about how the church should deal with the poor—and the question of money from worshippers.
But today I want to discuss what has set him apart from other Ugandan and non-Ugandan pastors.
For decades, religious and non-religious Ugandans have listened to pastors who sound very much like self-seekers and have earned the name “pastorpreneurs”. They preach that a ticket to heaven is not how you observe the Biblical Ten Commandments but how you tithe and make cash donations.
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Worshippers who are ready and willing to part with money and give it to pastors are given front-row seats and priority during prayer sessions.
But in several interviews with content creators—and in sermons—Pastor Rwomushana has been disarmingly categorical about what the church should not do when it comes to money. A person struggling financially, for example, should not tithe, says Pastor Rwomushana.
If someone is broke and desperately looking for money, the pastor goes on, they should be given some and assisted to find work or start a small business that can provide a regular income. They do not need prayers; they need help.
Pastor Rwomushana is right on the money. He has earned commendation from thousands of Ugandans who see him as a religious messiah trying to put a whole new meaning to ministering.
Some pastors have asked their followers to donate cash for megachurch projects that have stalled, and they cannot even be held to account. They are the accountants, auditors and finance managers.
Others have deliberately conned worshippers. The Observer reported many years ago that a prominent female Ugandan pastor paid a church member who had HIV to lie that she had been cured so that her pastor could get money from HIV patients.
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In January 2024, a BBC investigation found that the late Nigerian pastor TB Joshua, who had founded the hugely popular Synagogue Church of all Nations, had faked “miracle healing” and sexually assaulted and tortured women.
“We all thought we were in heaven, but we were in hell, and in hell terrible things happen,” one woman told the BBC.
For Pastor Rwomushana, the million-dollar question is whether he will succeed in a field where being economical with the truth seems to be the rule of thumb. How do you convince a desperate person who needs prayers and is ready to pay that they do not have to?
🔴 Sunday Thought cuts through the noise of prayer, piety and superstition to ask the questions most people avoid. It discusses God, faith and religion—not to preach, but to probe, challenge and sometimes unsettle. Whether you believe, doubt or have stopped looking altogether, Sunday Thought will make you think, question and maybe even rethink everything you thought you knew about the divine—and about life itself.